Summary: Robert Baratheon, King of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, and his wife, Cersei Lannister, travel north to make his old friend Eddard "Ned" Stark – Lord of the frozen land of Winterfell – an offer he cannot refuse. Across the narrow sea in Essos, the exiled Prince Viserys Targaryen forges a new alliance to regain the Iron Throne; he will trade his sister Daenerys in marriage to the savage Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo in exchange for Drogo's army. Back in Winterfell, Ned's 10-year-old son Brandon discovers that Queen Cersei and her brother Jaime are involved in an incestuous relationship, a discovery for which he pays dearly.